


Inevitable

by female_overlord_3



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:21:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25305922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/female_overlord_3/pseuds/female_overlord_3
Summary: "One day, you will hate them for it, just a little bit."
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 156





	Inevitable

**Author's Note:**

> The Old Guard owns me now and I see no problem with that. This got pretty like descriptive which I'm proud of it! Enjoy 💖
> 
> Based on [**this**](https://bestillmyslashyheart.tumblr.com/post/623490804016693248/i-need-niles-pov-on-joe-and-nicky-here-she-is)!

It hasn't been that long. Nile feels a bit more settled in her place with the others, their purpose and want to continue to be the good today that makes a wave for tomorrow. It's only been 8 years since everything changed, not enough time to pass that the scope of being immortal has hit her yet, but enough to know she's nowhere near who she used to be, just a bit older with gained life experience. 

They've taken a few jobs, good ones that help fuel their spirits and bring satisfaction to their new look on life. Nile thinks that Andy being able to live an actual life now has done her good. Now Andy can find some peace from her exhaustion of living so long, finding that she's missed being able to teach and share all that she knows.

Both Nile and her aren't the most patient sometimes, Andy wanting to keep going when she should rest or Niles stubborn determination to learn as much as she can. They clash like incoming ships unwilling to shift out of the way. Joe and Nicky do their best to take care of them, provide a distraction or say calming words. Though they've traveled and stayed in hotels when necessary, it's a small simple house in the woods just on the outskirts of a village they consider home. It belongs to Nicky and Joe, one they found and claimed just after the village it neighbors, became an actual village. They've maintained it through the years, updated when needed, the place filled with stories and memories. Still filled with the love that Joe and Nicky share.

Nile is filled with so many questions and endless curiosity, her want to know almost matched with the want that both men share when talking about the other and all the things they've experienced together. It must be so exciting to be able to speak freely about their past with someone new, to voice all the love and time Nicky and Joe have.

It's inspiring to be in the presence of such an old and strong love.

It's around 2 years later, after it's been Niles first full decade of being an immortal that Andy tells her a hard truth, a warning to keep in mind.

"One day, you will hate them for it, just a little bit." 

They're camped deep in a jungle in the Amazon, just finished a job but taking their time to enjoy the journey back. They're resting up in the trees in a makeshift platform made from anchored cables and a stretched tarp, branches intersecting to create an almost bridge to rest on.

Nile quirks a brow at Andy from her spot. Andy rests against the trunk of the tree with Nile between her and the men curled together asleep.

"Wanna add some context?" Her voice is teasing but she knows who Andy is talking about.

They stare at each other for a long moment before an unspoken understanding is made.

Nile knows that Joe and Nicky got lucky, not just in prolonged life but in love too. It's something she knows added to Booker's desperation for an end and Andy's haunted yet wistful moments. Love like this is something one can easily be jealous of, angry and hurt from because it's something so rare yet highly coveted. Love that's all consuming, such devotion and adoration that's only grown stronger that Nile believes these two men are the reason people created the idea of soulmates. 

For Nile that type of love is slightly terrifying but also something she does possibly hope for in small moments of being near Nicky and Joe. To find someone who is yours and becomes the only one who will truly know you once everyone else has gone. To have a constant in a world that never stops changing.

Nile knows that what Andy is telling her is true, that having that painful truth known and felt now, accepted to some degree will allow a greater pain in the future to be dulled. 

Nile understands this but also knows that for now she loves them dearly. They are her family, the ones that help anchor her when everything becomes too much for her still young mind. Unlike Andy and Booker, Nicky and Joe are able to live in the immense amount of time they were given. Live with and for each other. Nile hopes that's what Booker's learning now, what she sees Andy is starting to relearn after so long.

Andy was too hurt by what she lost and wasn't able to save, what she still holds onto even as the burden lights the tiniest but everyday. Booker let his pain from loss consume him, blind and bind him to only seeing the past or all that time takes.

Nile still battles with the conflict of letting her family go, the anger and sadness of losing the one she had then given one she didn't choose. She chooses them now, continues to choose them because that's what love is and she would rather be happy and feel connected to these special people who will be with her until their time has come.

~

It does happen though, one day so far away. It's long after they've allowed Booker back, sooner than expected after they find out about Quynh. Almost three decades instead of the full century. It's after they deal with the bloody mess and heartbreaking pain she brought. The fury and insanity that nearly destroyed them all until that too mended. The death they thought would be Andy's last but wasn't, the revelation and further questions of why they are how they are.

~

It's the day the world almost burns. Niles fourth one actually but something about this one sunk deeper than the others. She is reminded again why Andy felt so tired, so exhausted with her spirit nearly broken. Nile remembers Andy's words and what they meant then but what she prepared for and expected did not pass. The world almost burned and destroyed itself and she wants to hate it, leave the wreck and despair behind for all those lost to it but she can't.

The day Nile feels the smallest true spark of pure hatred for these two men, a spark that barely has a chance to flicker before dying out, is because they keep her anchored when she wants nothing but to be set free.

"We cannot abandon the world Nile. This is our purpose and curse. We are the keepers of balance so tomorrow is better than today." Joe whispers calmly in her ear while keeping her caged in his arms. The words steal some of the air from the fire trying to burn her from inside out.

Nicky stands in front of her, hands holding her face so he is all she can see and not the horror waiting beyond him.

"You were the one who reminded us we still do good when you became one of us. You helped open our eyes to our  _ why _ Nile so we will remind you now. We not only get the chance to plant the seeds of good but we are able to watch them grow, to prosper and see what they create."

Three more sets of arms reach to embrace and hold her. She crumbles into them as the pain and anguish continue to crash into her like the most righteous storm but slowly it calms then the pitch black clouds turn grey then white until it's clear and there is peace.

The world nearly burned but they are still there. They can help rebuild and nurture humanity from this scar because they have the time, the will, and the heart.

"Thank you." Her voice is small and fragile but it settles through everyone like a needed weight.

Nile realizes that even though she was the one who helped bring back their will and purpose to keep doing the right thing, it's because of the love that Nicky and Joe have for not just themselves or their small found family, but humanity as well.

She thought she would hate them because of what she could never have but instead she did, for the faintest moment, hate them for what their love could and will continue to do until their time comes: Inspire to keep going. To love and live. To care. To stay. To see their garden grow til the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the garden bit is because of Leonard Nemoy. That tweet still just hits me from time to time and it felt kinda perfect for this.


End file.
